What is your take on this elementary school punishment?

[OceanAnnie]

I don't like to use the analogy "life is unfair" in situations like this because that is usually when something is beyond your control, this punishment wasn't. The students were told that to avoid punishment they would have to tell on the bully. They told and the school changed the terms after the fact, and for what reason? It doesn't even make sense, if the purpose was to get the bully to admit it then why make the rest of the class tell in the first place, why threaten them with punishment if it didn't matter whether they told or not? They are 6th graders and sure there will be many times when things aren't fair however we should still be treating them with some respect and not make things unfair for them just because we can. They could have been up front, if bully kid doesn't tell you all will miss recess, fine if thats how it is going to be, but they changed it and thats whats not right. Of course I've always had a problem with authority


As someome pointed out, the bully is probably loving this, he does something wrong and the whole class gets punished, I'm sure thats really going to make him think about his actions next time

I agree with your post. I think you hit the mark dead on. I'm another one that isn't for the, "Life is unfair.", statement used to make something that is not right, seem right.

Why are they not punishing the kid that did it? Why does everyone else have to learn "this boy's" lesson? Couldn't they learn the same lesson by seeing the boy receive punishment that fit the crime? It all seems like a really poorly thought, backward way of addressing the problem. Strange.

 

[MushyMushy]

I agree with your post. I think you hit the mark dead on. I'm another one that isn't for the, "Life is unfair.", statement used to make something that is not right, seem right.

Why are they not punishing the kid that did it? Why does everyone else have to learn "this boy's" lesson? Couldn't they learn the same lesson by seeing the boy receive punishment that fit the crime? It all seems like a really poorly thought, backward way of addressing the problem. Strange.

I totally agree, especially with your comment about the "life is unfair" quote people like to fling around.

Sorry, but if your life is so unfair, why would you accept it? Fight the injustice and do something about it.

These punishments never work anyway. I'm 43 years old and can STILL remember twice that it was used on my classes in school. Once in 3rd grade, somebody did something to tick the teacher off and she threatened to keep us all in from our end of year picnic unless the guilty party confessed. All that served to do was to get all the kids to pressure a much-teased boy to take the heat. That poor kid was picked on all through school.

Another time was 6th grade, someone was vandalizing soap dispensers in the brand new school. I happened to know it was a friend of mine who was also the principal's daughter. The school lined up a sort of inquisition where they brought in every kid to the office to be questioned. I cracked and told on my friend, but didn't get believed anyway. Thankfully all these years later, it's a dinner table joke between my friend and me, but the fact is, the school royally screwed up with their methods.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Bottom line your school's bullying policy needs to be addressed.

If this kid is a "known bully" and the school pretends that treating 6th graders like Kindergartners is effective someone needs to get some more training. Frankly the consequences can backfire on the student that was the target and the other students that spoke up for him. A threat was made to them and sounds like they glazed right over that.

No recess for a 6th grader, big whoop. It is not even an effective punishment for that age group no matter what the issue is to begin with.

That is why that age group does better in a middle school/jr high without any recess. Idle hands of a middle schooler has nothing good come from it.

 

[hereyago]

So let me get this straight: One boy tells the principal. Then the kids were told no one would get recess until the bully was "outed". Then a whole bunch of students tell, then the school goes back on it's word? Yea, if I were a kid, i wouldn't trust school authority after that.